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No. so. We CONNOISSEUR. 177“ feats : but thou with refiftlefs arm haft not only knocked “ down oxen but made the puny race of barbers, coblers, “ and watermen fall before thee.”I cannot but lament the cruelty of that law, which has fhut up our Amphitheatres: and I look upon the profeftors of the noble art of Boxing as a kind of disbanded army, for whom we have made no provilion. The mechanics, who at the call of glory left their mean occupations, are now obliged to have recourfe to them again 5 and coachmen and barbers refume the whip and the razor, inftead of giving black eyes and crofs-buttocks. I know a veteran that has often won the whole houfe, who is reduced, like Belifarius, to fpread his palm in begging for a halfpenny. Some have been forced to exercife their art in knocking down paftengers in dark alleys and corners; while others have learned to open their lifts and ply their lingers in picking pockets. Buckborfe, whofe knuckles had been ufed to indent many a bruife, now clenches them only to grafp a link ; and Broughton employs the mufcles of his brawny arm in fqueezing a lemon or drawing a cork. His Amphitheatre itfelf is converted into a Methodift Meeting-houfe ! and perhaps (as laymen are there admitted into the pulpit) thofe very lifts, which fo lately dealt fuch hearty bangs upon the ftage, are now with equal vehemence thumping the cufhion.The dextrous ufe of the lift is a truly Britijh exercife: and the fturdy Englijh have been as much renowned for their Boxing as their Beef; both which are by no means fuited to the watry ftomachs and weak finews of their enemies the French. To this nutriment and this art is owing that long-cftabliftied maxim, that one Englijhman can beat three Frenchmen. A Frenchman^ who piddles ona
Newspaper Details
London Royal Magazine
London, Middlesex, GB
Thu, Aug 22, 1754
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
David L.
WI, USA 15 Jun 2017
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